1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital media content creation and distribution. Further, the present invention relates to digital media creation, upload, download, and rights acquisition by users of a network-based system and methods of using the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Historically, music and entertainment was provided solely in a live format, wherein the audience only had real-time, live access to the performance. If someone wanted to access the music and entertainment, one had to travel to be in person for the performance, if payment was required, it would be on a pay-per-attendance basis made at the time the performance was rendered. Still music, plays, readings and other performances were documented on paper and issues of copyright infringement or plagiarism were relevant and problematic, in particular being difficult to monitor and police. Early and distributed release of the documented music by the actual or true author was one possible solution to these problems, although far from completely addressing the issues.
Later, music companies or record labels were established to manage the release and distribution of music and other entertainment. Publishing companies were similarly situated to manage written works, including texts, art, and the like. While distribution of the music and entertainment improved, the selection and timing of release was made by the third party companies, rather than by the artist or the consumer. So many talented artists and authors created works that were still nearly impossible to distribute or promote, in particular beyond time and geographic constraints. Recording and producing the music and entertainment, including digital mastering, was essentially controlled and managed by a few companies, rather than the artists and authors. Artists are paid very small fees, usually less than 10% of revenue from sales. Most of the ownership rights or copyrights were required to be assigned to the companies rather than being retained by the authors in exchange for the selective distribution, which frequently resulted in artistic compromise or censorship.
Compensation is required for the creating and distributing parties within the entertainment equation, otherwise, new content of quality will not be regularly created. While some Internet websites like iTunes at www.apple.com/itunes provide for on-demand download to users having accounts who pay for rights to download copies, these sites do not provide for the user to play or download to a multiplicity of devices, with the exception of backup copies. Users can selectively access content they want, buying on a per-song or per-album basis, and similarly on a per-book or per-movie basis. While this scenario and business model improves distribution and helps to avoid some of the illegal downloading by making access to content affordable, the costs are still expensive and comparable to traditional recording industry standards for purchasing a copy of the content on a CD or DVD format (where you buy the DVD or CD with a copy of the content, but you don't actually own the content, for example if the DVD or CD is damaged or stolen, you don't get a free replacement for the copy you already purchased). iTunes provides for a user to download music, movies, audio books, and the like into a library that must be stored on the user's computer. iTunes does not retain the library for each user on its site; thus, if anything is lost or damaged or the computer is stolen, the library and the valuable content on it are no longer accessible by the user who rightfully owns that content, based on the licenses purchased.
Another website with content available through the Internet is youTube at www.youtube.com; it provides free content for play by any user on the site, and that free content is uploaded without review or confirmation of authorship or rights ownership, much less screened for quality or interest by users.
In both of the aforementioned cases, users can provide feedback or rating of the content. And the content may be categorized by subject or genre or artist. To some limited extent, it may also be searched through the website.
The Internet and web-based media distribution, along with the improvement of electronic devices for creating digital representations of works, has changed the entertainment scene; however, the industry—especially music, movies, and broadcast media (perhaps with the exception of XM radio)—has not significantly changed the business model for providing digital entertainment content to authorized users. The traditional industry position has held that its position is based on the protection of copyrights and other intellectual property; in fact, copyright infringement and illegal downloading have been problematic for a long, long time. The Internet alone has not addressed the problem of providing diverse, on-demand content to authorized users at reasonable rates, while providing reasonable compensation to artists and authors for participating in a structured, managed format. Thus there remains a need for a system and methods that provide for digital content creation and upload through a managed website for providing network-based access to authorized users who pay for predetermined rights that allow for use of the content by the authorized user on a multiplicity of devices, without having to repurchase access to the same content.